My figurative compositions are the representation of observations and experiences of traveling in a chaotic environment in a public transport. Concisely concentrating on the idea of traveling, my paintings are an effort to understand the social behavior which tracks the invisible thread or a hidden dialogue among strangers and often encounters the growing insensitivity and insecurity in our society which also brings forth the women and security crisis in the capital city. It is an effort to track the essence of a journey through various elements leading to a continuous shift in emotional states.
Belonging to a middle class family and living on the outskirts of the city, traveling in a public transport has been a substantial part of my life. My habit of observing and sketching people while traveling, accelerated the idea of painting the immediate reality. It is then that I started to paint the series Traveling with Insecurities and Tangled Journey, delineating on the un-comfortableness of the female traveler and the ignorance of her fellow passengers. The idea of the composition is accessed from my own experience of eve-teasing and the role of caitiff acts for changing emotional states. Being the cheapest and most convenient mode of transport, a lot of people whether the lower class or the middle class, the educated or uneducated, the innocent or the perverts travel altogether in a public transport which creates a helter-skelter; my paintings are structured to showcase this mobocracy of our society by creating harmony in chaos.
The recent body of works evolved with the idea of pleasant and convenient travel in Delhi- metro which attracted many people of different class and generations to travel in it. These paintings looked beyond the gender caused insecurity, to the privilege of having a ladies coach, often highlighting multiculturalism, class based differences and dialogue among various generations. These lighted compositions explores the technical aspects and advertising culture with the behavior of people traveling in and around. This also draws a sarcastic commentary on performing the prohibited activities inside the metro premises in a very stylized manner which I call the “Vain-Glory” of our society. The recent composition entitled as “Reflected Regime” and “Recalcitrant Bevy” are some of this exploration.Most of my paintings speaks in the medium of oil colors with some of them exploring the acrylic on canvas or reversely painted acrylic sheet. The aversions, ignorance and anxiety existing in today’s fast paced life style act as a catalyst in creation of my artworks.
